News
Housing Market Faces Its Next Crisis as May Rent and Mortgages Come Due
While aggressive federal and state intervention and temporary corporate measures have prevented a surge in evictions and foreclosures, the housing and rental market has fallen into a severe crisis that threatens the ability of millions of Americans to stay in their homes even if the coronavirus pandemic eases in the coming months, the Washington Post reported. [as reported in 5/4/20 American Bankruptcy Institute e-newsletter]
Bankruptcy Code’s Small Business Reorganization Act Debt Limit is Increased to $7,500,000 for One Year, by the CARES Act that is part of US Legislation to Combat the Covid 19 Pandemic
In February 2020, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (“SBRA”), also known as Subchapter V of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, went into effect. The SBRA includes a number of provisions that make Chapter 11 reorganization quicker, cheaper and more effective for businesses with total debts under $2,725,625. The recently enacted CARES Act, designed to aid businesses suffering the effects of the coronavirus, increases the debt limit to $7,500,000 for one year, which will enable a far greater number of companies to take advantage of the SBRA
Increase In Applications for Unemployment Benefits
Wall Street Journal, on 3/26/20, reports that a record 3.28 million workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the new coronavirus hit the economy, ending a decade long job expansion.
Five Big Banks Suspend Mortgage Payments
Five of the nation’s largest banks have agreed to temporarily suspend residential mortgage payments for people affected by the coronavirus, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. The announcement came as Newsom provided yet another grim statistic about the economic devastation from the virus: 1 million Californians have filed for unemployment benefits since March 13 as businesses shut down or dramatically scaled back because of a statewide “stay-at-home” order to prevent the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, Newsom said California is rapidly expanding its supply of equipment for health care workers and hospital beds in anticipation of the expected surge in…
67 Million Americans May Have Trouble Paying Credit Card Bills
Even before the spread of corona virus (aka COVID-19) brought the U.S. economy to a near standstill, Americans were taking on increasing amounts of debt. Now, around 67 million Americans said they will have trouble paying their credit card bills due to the outbreak and its aftermath, according to a new Coronavirus Money Survey by personal finance site WalletHub. “Their struggles could easily ripple through the economy if left unaddressed, especially considering the more than $1 trillion in credit card debt currently owed by U.S. consumers,” said Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of WalletHub. According to data from the Federal Reserve, the…
Mortgage Lenders Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac To Suspend Foreclosures Through April
Mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will suspend foreclosures and evictions for at least 60 days as federal and business leaders respond to the growing COVID-19 crisis that will cost people their jobs and likely tip the economy into a recession. In a statement Wednesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said the suspension by the mortgage giants applies to homeowners with a single-family mortgage, backed by either company. “This foreclosure and eviction suspension allows homeowners with an Enterprise-backed mortgage to stay in their homes during this national emergency,” said FHFA Director Mark Calabria in a statement. The agency announced…
Supreme Court Rules that ‘Unreservedly’ Denying a Lift-Stay Motion Is Appealable
Building on Bullard, the US Supreme Court on 011420 ruled unanimously that a lift-stay motion is a “procedural unit” that’s appealable if the bankruptcy court “conclusively” denies the motion. Note: Where a bankruptcy court order is “final”, the party complaining about the order must file a Notice of Appeal within 14 days after the order is entered by the Bankruptcy Court, and loses the right to appeal a final order if the party complaining about the order FAILS to file a Notice of appeal within 14 days after the order is entered in the Bankruptcy Court docket. The Supreme Court…
Hospitals Are Seizing Patients’ Homes And Wages For Overdue Bills
Credit and Collection e-newsletter of 1/6/20 reports that the American Hospital Association, the biggest hospital trade group, says it promotes “best practices” among medical systems to treat patients more effectively and improve community health. But the powerful association has stayed largely silent about hospitals suing thousands of patients for overdue bills, seizing homes or wages and even forcing families into bankruptcy. Atlantic Health System, whose CEO is the AHA’s chairman, Brian Gragnolati, has sued patients for unpaid bills thousands of times this year, court records show, including a family struggling to pay bills for three children with cystic fibrosis. AHA,…
Rising Credit Card Defaults Are Reported by 1/1/2020 Credit & Collection E-Newsletter
Rising credit card defaults are reported by 1/1/2020 Credit & Collection e-newsletter: Consumer credit card losses, or charge-offs, among the Top 100 U.S. banks, are continuing to rise to levels for a third-quarter not seen since early 2013. Meanwhile, delinquency, the precursor of charge-offs, is also hovering at seven-year highs. The trends are concerning to card issuers as it adds more evidence the U.S. economy is headed into a downturn in 2020, or already unraveling. Third-quarter card charge-offs among the Top 4 U.S. bank credit card declined sharply from the prior quarter, a historical pattern, but up slightly from one-year…
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Fined $100,000 for Violating an Order ordering the Department of Education to STOP Trying to Collect Student Loans made to Students to attend Corinthian Colleges, a for profit college that closed and filed bankruptcy
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was hit with a $100,000 fine for violating a judge’s order to stop debt collection efforts against former students at bankrupt Corinthian Colleges Inc., Bloomberg News reported. Despite the order, the department went as far as seizing the students’ tax refunds and wages. U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim in San Francisco issued the fine Thursday, after finding DeVos in contempt of court. Kim ordered the $100,000 to go to a fund held by the students’ lawyers to help the more than 16,000 borrowers who she said suffered damages from the violation. Both sides must…